Moravcova Tops Final FINA World Cup Rankings; Balcerzak is Top American

By Phillip Whitten

LAUSANNE, Switzerland. Jan. 29. SLOVAKIA'S Martina Moravcova was easily the dominant swimmer on the 2000-2001 FINA World Cup tour which ended yesterday in Paris. The Southern Methodist University grad, who still trains in Dallas, finished first in eight events, earning $32,000. In previous World Cup competition, no swimmer had ever won more than five events.

FINA released the final rankings in the 10-venue World Cup short course series, in which, to be eligible, a swimmer had to compete in at least one meet in each "zone" — the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe –to be eligible for the overall rankings and win prize money. Very few swimmers met that criterion and, as a result, no prize money was awarded in nine events.

Even more telling, full prize money–for first through third place–was awarded in only seven of 34 events. FINA's motive, which is to encourage top swimmers to compete in all three zones and make the tour truly a global event, is admirable. However, it is clear the criteria for being eligible to win overall prize money need to be revised. Traveling around the world for two months and competing in as many as ten two-day meets is both exhausting and expensive. It can also play havoc with a swimmer's training.

For each category the prize money was:
$4,000: first place
$2,000: second place
$1,000: third place

The USA's Amy Balcerzak, who graduated from North-western University last year, was the second most successful woman on the tour, winning thre events, finishing second in a fourth and third in a fifth to earn $15,000.